Passive optical networks are becoming prevalent in part because service providers want to deliver high bandwidth communication capabilities to customers. Passive optical networks are a desirable choice for delivering high-speed communication data because they may not employ active electronic devices, such as amplifiers and repeaters, between a central office and a subscriber termination. The absence of active electronic devices may decrease network complexity and/or cost and may increase network reliability.
FIG. 1 illustrates a network 100 deploying passive fiber optic lines. As shown, the network 100 can include a central office 101 that connects a number of end subscribers 105 (also called end users 105 herein) in a network. The central office 101 can additionally connect to a larger network such as the Internet (not shown) and/or a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The network 100 also can include fiber distribution hubs (FDHs) 103 that may accept a feeder cable F1 having a number of fibers and may split or optically couple those incoming fibers to individual distribution fibers that may be associated with a like number of end user locations 105.
The portion of the network 100 that is closest to the central office 101 is generally referred to as the F1 region, where F1 is the “feeder fiber” from the central office 101. The portion of the network 100 closest to the end users 105 can be referred to as an F2 portion of network 100. The network 100 includes multiple break-out locations 102 at which branch cables are separated out from the main cable lines. Branch cables are often connected to drop terminals 104 that include connector interfaces for facilitating coupling of the fibers of the branch cables to multiple different subscriber locations 105.
In the case of shielded/armored cables, the cables are preferably grounded for safety. In a typical configuration, a grounding plate having grounding pins is provided within the interior of a fiber distribution hub cabinet. The shields of the F1 and F2 cables are electrically connected to the pins of the grounding plate by wires. One of the pins is electrically connected to ground (e.g., a metal rod, post or other member driven into the ground).